Construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji & Co will start a real estate fund over the next one year. The fund will concentrate on investments in the local market, as per to Shapoor Mistry, chairman of Eureka Forbes, the Shapoorji Pallonji group company.
The 145-year-old group has about 70 million square feet of space being developed. The fund is believed to increase its interests more. The group may take part in projects valued at more than $1 billion over the next few years via the fund, though Mistry refused to assert or refute the development. He also declined to comment on if a foreign investor would join the fund established by the group.
Mistry said, the Shapoorji Pallonji group will also concentrate on newer businesses like renewable energy. For this purpose, the group has leased 50,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia, to cultivate a biodiesel feedstock called pongamia pinnata. Mistry said, “The paperwork is being processed. We will begin cultivation in the near future,” when queried to expand on the group’s energy plans. He said, “The biodiesel that we produce will be exported to India and Europe. But that will happen five years from now. We have no intention to set up wind farms, but we will look at other forms of renewable energy.”
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